1983 Canarian regional election

The 1983 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

1983 Canarian regional election

8 May 1983
All 60 seats in the Parliament of the Canary Islands 31 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	925,572
Turnout	577,670 (62.4%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jerónimo Saavedra Francisco Marcos Hernández Lorenzo Olarte Party PSOE AP–PDP–UL CDS Leader since 1977 1983 1983 Leader's seat Gran Canaria Tenerife Gran Canaria Seats won 27 17 6 Popular vote 233,991 163,419 40,789 Percentage 41.5% 29.0% 7.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Miguel Cabrera Cabrera Gonzalo Angulo González Esteban Bethencourt Gámez Party AM UPC–AC AGI Leader since 1983 1983 1983 Leader's seat Fuerteventura Gran Canaria La Gomera Seats won 3 2 2 Popular vote 5,551 46,784 3,294 Percentage 1.0% 8.3% 0.6%
Constituency results map for the Parliament of the Canary Islands
President before election Jerónimo Saavedra PSOE Elected President Jerónimo Saavedra PSOE

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) emerged as the largest party in the archipelago with 27 seats—4 short of an overall majority—following the disintegration and dissolution of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), the former ruling party of Spain in the 1977–1982 period which had achieved virtually unopposed victories in the islands in the 1977 and 1979 general elections.[1] The People's Coalition, an electoral alliance comprising the People's Alliance (AP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL) became the second largest party and the main opposition force in the Parliament with 17 seats, while the also-nationwide Communist Party of Spain (PCE) obtained 1 seat. The centre and centre-right vote became further split between several small parties and splits from the UCD, such as the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) of former Spanish prime minister Adolfo Suárez, which entered Parliament with 6 seats; the Gomera Group of Independents (AGI), with 2 seats; or the Canarian Nationalist Convergence (CNC) and the Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) with 1 seat each.

The election resulted in the most fragmented regional assembly of those elected on 8 May, with nine parties represented in the Parliament.[2][3] The PSOE candidate Jerónimo Saavedra, who had been elected as provisional president in December 1982,[4] was able to get re-elected with the support of AM, AGI and AHI,[5][6] though the party did not commit itself to a global agreement with any other political force.[7]

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of the Canary Islands was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Canarian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a President of the Government.[8] Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in the Canary Islands and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

The 60 members of the Parliament of the Canary Islands were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 20 percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Alternatively, parties could also enter the seat distribution as long as they reached 3 percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Each constituency was allocated a fixed number of seats: 3 for El Hierro, 7 for Fuerteventura, 15 for Gran Canaria, 4 for La Gomera, 8 for La Palma, 8 for Lanzarote and 15 for Tenerife.[8]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election—needing to secure, in any case, the signature of 500 electors—. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within fifteen days of the election being called.[9]

Election date

The Government of Spain, in coordination with the Junta of the Canary Islands, was required to call an election to the Parliament of the Canary Islands within from 1 February to 31 May 1983. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional President within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their four-year terms.[8]

Parties and alliances

Parliamentary status

The first election to the Parliament of the Canary Islands was officially called on 10 March 1983, after the publication of the election Decree in the Official State Gazette, with the mandate of the Provisional Parliament ending on 8 May.[10] The table below shows the status of the different parliamentary groups in the Provisional Parliament at the time of its expiry.[11]

Parliamentary group		Deputies
	Socialist Group	24
	People's Group	16
	Centrist Group	14
	Mixed Group	6[lower-alpha 1]
Total		60

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				UPC		CNC	AC		AM	AGI		Lead
1983 regional election	8 May 1983	N/A	62.4	41.5 27	29.0 17	–	8.3 2	7.2 6	4.3 1	[lower-alpha 2]	4.4 1	1.0 3	0.6 2	0.2 1	12.5
Sofemasa/El País[p 1][p 2]	23–26 Apr 1983	?	?	? 35/40	? 12/20	–	–	–	–	–	–	? 3/4	–	–	?
1982 general election	28 Oct 1982	N/A	76.0	36.7 24	26.9 16	16.4 14	5.4 2	4.9 3	3.9 1	2.9 0	[lower-alpha 3]	–	–	–	9.8

Results

Overall

Summary of the 8 May 1983 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results →

Parties and coalitions		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	233,991	41.50	n/a	27	n/a
	People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL)	163,419	28.98	n/a	17	n/a
	Canarian People's Union–Canarian Assembly (UPC–AC)	46,784	8.30	n/a	2	n/a
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	40,789	7.23	n/a	6	n/a
	Communist Party of the Canaries (PCC–PCE)	24,868	4.41	n/a	1	n/a
	Canarian Nationalist Convergence (CNC)	24,376	4.32	n/a	1	n/a
	Party of the Canarian Country (PPC)	7,676	1.36	n/a	0	n/a
	Majorera Assembly (AM)	5,551	0.98	n/a	3	n/a
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	3,909	0.69	n/a	0	n/a
	Gomera Group of Independents (AGI)	3,294	0.58	n/a	2	n/a
	Lanzarote Independents Group (AIL)	2,718	0.48	n/a	0	n/a
	Seven Green Stars (SEV)	2,709	0.48	n/a	0	n/a
	Revolutionary Communist League (LCR)	1,784	0.32	n/a	0	n/a
	Popular Struggle Coalition (CLP)	1,010	0.18	n/a	0	n/a
	Independent Herrenian Group (AHI)	944	0.17	n/a	1	n/a
Blank ballots		0	0.00	n/a
Total		563,822			60	n/a
Valid votes		563,822	97.60	n/a
Invalid votes		13,848	2.40	n/a
Votes cast / turnout		577,670	62.41	n/a
Abstentions		347,902	37.59	n/a
Registered voters		925,572
Sources[12][13][14]

Popular vote PSOE   41.50% AP–PDP–UL   28.98% UPC–AC   8.30% CDS   7.23% PCC–PCE   4.41% CNC   4.32% PPC   1.36% AM   0.98% AGI   0.58% AHI   0.17% Others   2.15% Blank ballots   0.00%

Seats PSOE   45.00% AP–PDP–UL   28.33% CDS   10.00% AM   5.00% UPC–AC   3.33% AGI   3.33% CNC   1.67% PCC–PCE   1.67% AHI   1.67%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency	PSOE		CP		UPC–AC		CDS		PCC–PCE		CNC		AM		AGI		AHI
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
El Hierro	28.5	1	29.9	1					14.0	−							27.6	1
Fuerteventura	13.8	1	18.4	1			22.8	2					45.0	3
Gran Canaria	39.0	7	28.3	5	9.5	1	5.3	1	4.5	−	9.1	1
La Gomera	39.2	2	15.2	−					7.3	−					38.3	2
La Palma	32.0	3	37.4	3			15.8	1	14.8	1
Lanzarote	47.4	5	18.2	2			12.0	1	4.7	−	4.3	−
Tenerife	47.1	8	30.5	5	9.9	1	7.3	1	2.7	−
Total	41.5	27	29.0	17	8.3	2	7.2	6	4.4	1	4.3	1	1.0	3	0.6	2	0.2	1
Sources[12][13][14]

Aftermath

Investiture Jerónimo Saavedra (PSOE)
Ballot →		7 June 1983
Required majority →		31 out of 60 Y
	Yes • PSOE (27) • AM (3) • AGI (2) • AHI (1)	33 / 60
	No • AP–PDP–UL (15) • CDS (6) • CNC (1)	22 / 60
	Abstentions • UPC–AC (1) • PCC (1)	2 / 60
	Absentees • AP–PDP–UL (2) • UPC–AC (1)	3 / 60
Sources[5][14]

Notes

1. 3 CDS, 2 UPC, 1 CC.
2. Within UPC.
3. Within AC.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Holgada mayoría socialista en el Parlamento autonómico". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
2. "Ficha técnica de los sondeos". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.

Other

1. "Nueve fuerzas en el Parlamento autónomo". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
2. "El PSOE domina 12 de las 17 comunidades autónomas". El País (in Spanish). 9 May 1983. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
3. "Los socialistas deberán pactar en cinco comunidades atonómas para gobernar". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
4. "El socialista Jerónimo Saavedra, elegido presidente del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 30 December 1982. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
5. "Jerónimo Saavedra, elegido presidente del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 8 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
6. "Jerónimo Saavedra asumió la presidencia del Gobierno canario". El País (in Spanish). 12 June 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
7. "El PSOE de Canarias descarta un pacto global con otros grupos". El País (in Spanish). 17 May 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
8. "Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands of 1982". Organic Law No. 10 of 10 August 1982. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2017.
9. "Electoral Rules Decree of 1977". Royal Decree-Law No. 20 of 18 March 1977. Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
10. "Real Decreto 453/1983, de 9 de marzo, de convocatoria de elecciones al Parlamento de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (59): 7047. 10 March 1983. ISSN 0212-033X.
11. "Posible control socialista del gobierno autónomo de Canarias". El País (in Spanish). 20 December 1982. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
12. "Electoral Information System in the Canary Islands". www.gobiernodecanarias.org (in Spanish). Canarian Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
13. "Election Results in the Canary Islands (1979-1987)" (PDF). datosdelanzarote.com (in Spanish). Statistics and Documentation Center of the Canary Islands. November 1987. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
14. "Parliament of the Canary Islands elections since 1983". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 30 September 2017.